#thread 1 ft. simon hawthorne

[aliyebalik]

Life was always fun when Aliye had anything to do with it and a healthy dose of delusion always made it possible. His words were met with a grin, head inclining gently in his direction. "And are you always right?" she asked, sensing that Simon's ego might just outdo her own inflated one.

The admission that his taste could be expensive probably should have given her some pause in offering to pay, but it didn't at all. The concern over whether she could afford it simply didn't exist for Aliye. "Hey, woman of my word over here. If I lose, you order whatever you want to drink," she reaffirmed, not for a second willing to back down on the bet, even if she had literally every reason to do just that.

Picking her drink up to take a few more long sips, Aliye was hoping it would give her the extra boost to somehow magically get better going into the next throw. Especially when she saw the easy spin of the dart in Simon's hands before he let it fly to the board, again with success. "You know, when I find out that you're actually a professional darts player, I'm going to file a complain that I've been scammed," she teased, moving around a bit to hype herself up before her next turn. There was no real method to her toss of the dart, Aliye taking mere moments to try and pretend she knew how to line it up before letting it fly, this time managing a somewhat more respectable throw closer to a bullseye.

@thesimonhawthorne

Simon leaned against the wall, arms crossed, watching Aliye with a small, amused smile as she lined up her shot. "Delusion's half the fun, isn’t it?" he quipped, his voice carrying the faintest hint of an accent he often downplayed. "Keeps things interesting. But who needs delusion when you're always right?"

He turned back to Aliye, one eyebrow raised. “First round on you, huh? You’re brave. I’ve been known to have expensive taste,” he teased, though his tone was light, not wanting to put too much pressure on her offer. He came back with their drinks.

When Aliye’s dart hit the board but didn’t quite make it to the center, Simon couldn’t resist a grin. “You know, when bad shots are all you have, it's just called playing.” He picked up his next dart, giving it a quick spin between his fingers before throwing it with the same easy confidence. The dart landed him a size chunk of points, not as perfect as his first, but still strong. He turned back to her with a satisfied smile. “Your move.” @aliyebalik

[aliyebalik]

Aliye's brand of unabashed confidence came with a hefty share of delusion, something she was fully willing to admit to. It didn't matter what she threw herself into, she always did so with the confidence that she would be the best and that there was no way she would fail. Even if much of the time she did. "I mean, what kind of fun would life be without a little delusion?" she chuckled, embracing it as she lined up to take her shot. "At least for all the rest of us that aren't as obviously above the delusion like you." Her comment came with a bright, teasing grin as her head shook softly.

"Just warming up over here. Haven't you heard that you're supposed to get rid of all the bad shots first?" she pointed out with a laugh, backing away from the board to let Simon take over for his shot. Luckily, it wasn't nearly as good as his first, giving her some hope that perhaps it wouldn't be a complete blowout on the score. "I've got you, though. First round on me, whatever you want," she offered, motioning back towards the bar to indicate they could throw it on her tab. Always a risky offer for her to make, since there was rarely a guarantee that there would actually be money in her account to pay for things. That had never stopped her before, though. Wiggling around a bit as a show of warming up her shoulder, Aliye took her next shot, which at least managed to land on the board, though still towards the outer edge of the rings. "See, better every shot."

@thesimonhawthorne

"Doesn't confidence come with some kind of delusion?" he asked with a smirk. "Mine is waranted, of course, but I'm just speaking for the others." He already had never been the kind of doubt himself all that much, which led to issues he wouldn't admit to, of course, but on the subject of darts, he really didn't feel like he had anything to worry about. He hadn't had that much to drink and his dart skills were pretty good after quite a lot of practice.

"We might as well, I need a drink," he replied with an easy laugh. He gave her an amused grimace when he saw her shot. "You're aware you're supposed to hit the board, right?" He placed himself and threw another dart. I didn't do quite as well as the first one, earning him only a couple of points. "This may take a bit of time," he said, still amused. He let her the space and went up to the bar to ask for drinks, eyes still on the board. @aliyebalik

[aliyebalik]

"Confidence to the point of delusion is how my mother describes it," she chuckled back with an easy grin as they both stepped up towards the dartboard. Despite her general lack of talent at the game, that didn't deter her in the least from being as confident as they came. Part of it was the alcohol speaking, the rest just her own abundance of self-confidence.

Her head bobbed along, impressed by the first shot that Simon took. It was much better than she probably would ever do herself, but the confidence was still held as she twirled a dart in her hand and shifted in front of the board. "Better be getting that tab ready to open up, then," she teased, just before she let the dart go. For a moment it looked like it was on track before it curved and sunk itself into the wall right next to the board. "Nailed it. Damn. I might be buying you a drink."

@thesimonhawthorne

Simon smirked. "Confident, I like that," he replied, stepping closer as he took the red darts and fiddled with them. "But we'll see about the ass-kicking."

He lined up his first shot, aiming carefully before throwing the dart. He wouldn't call himself an expert by any mean, but he did find himself playing quite often and he enjoyed it, so it wasn't a surprise that it landed just shy of the bullseye, and Simon shrugged, turning back to her with a casual grin. "Alright, let’s see if that confidence holds up. And hey, if you win, maybe I’ll even buy the next round." @aliyebalik

[aliyebalik]

With the evening away from any responsibilities and her dog hanging out with her mom for the night, Aliye had taken it upon herself to hit the town to see what was out there to do. After running into some friends, she'd hung out for awhile, each of them dropping one by one as they had to head to sleep before a busy work day the next morning. Not quite ready to let the night end, Aliye found herself at the pub with a beer in hand, stepping up to play some darts.

While she would have been content enough to play on her own, her lips stretched to a wide smile when the offer came from Simon to join her. "In fact, I absolutely do need someone to play with," she confirmed, grinning a bit as she nodded her head to wave him over. Splitting the darts up by color, Aliye held her hands out, one with the yellow and one with the red. "Take your pick on color. I'm pretty sure I'll be kicking ass either way." It was more confidence than she probably should have had. Aliye was alright at darts, but by no means was she a phenom. With a few beers in her, though, she was quite convinced she was the best dart player the world had ever known.

@thesimonhawthorne

closed for @aliyebalik

Simon strolled down the bustling street of Kismet Harbor. It was the Formula One summer break, and with less work on his plate, Simon found himself enjoying the town’s nightlife more than usual. He'd been out with some friends earlier, but as they decided to head out, he'd wanted to keep enjoying the night.

Leaning against the bar at the Wingman's Pub, he ordered another drink, his gaze wandering over the crowd. As he took a sip, his eyes landed on a woman standing at the dartboard, probably about to start playing. Simon watched for a moment before walking over, his confidence evident in his stride. “Need someone to play with?” he asked. He gestured toward the dartboard, his smile charming yet relaxed.